What happens to my kids financially if both parents are gone?
Answered by Cheryl Heikka
Financial Strategist · Your One Agency
Two separate questions get bundled here: who raises them (guardianship, handled in your will) and what they live on (the money). Coverage should account for the full cost of raising children to independence - living costs, housing, and education - held in a structure a guardian or trust can actually manage on their behalf, rather than a lump sum handed to a minor. Many families cover one parent's income and stop, without planning for the scenario where both are gone.
The gap most people miss
Coverage is often sized around one parent's income and never accounts for the both-gone scenario or how a child would actually receive the money.
A gap check factors in the full cost of raising your kids to independence.